BREAKING: A leadership spill has been called for the prime ministership, with Tony Abbott to potentially face a challenge from Malcolm Turnbull. Bureaucrats will be nervous about a policy shift.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott will face the judgement of his partyroom on Tuesday, with a leadership spill throwing Canberra into weekend chaos.

Bureaucrats will be nervously watching developments, as so-far-undeclared leadership aspirants court support over the coming days. A new prime minister is likely to chart a different course for the government, with major policy shifts possible under likely candidate Malcolm Turnbull and potentially others.

West Australian MPs moved to bring on a spill of leadership positions this afternoon, with Luke Simpkins emailing colleagues to inform them he would be moving for a spill at Tuesday’s first partyroom meeting of 2015. Fellow WA MP Don Randall will second the motion. Earlier in the week another WA MP, Dennis Jensen, was the first to publicly withdraw support for Abbott as party leader.

Just before 2pm today, government chief whip Philip Ruddock issued a statement:

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